Chapter Twenty-Four
First Night

Heero ran a hand through his hair as he sat in the kitchen of Relena's townhouse. After leaving HQ he went straight to the Capitol Building. He had left Relena in the hands of a few agents he had personally trained and trusted. Relena had been checking in during the four hours he was away. While it wasn't unusual for them to check in with one another, with recent events Heero was more on edge about everything, and he just wanted to make sure she was safe. Even if he couldn't be there to protect her himself.

Relena had put up a fight about leaving her office so early but in the end, Heero promised to let her continue working, from home, without interruption. He had set to work making dinner for them while she was on a conference call in her office. Which she was still on as he checked the time for the thousandth time. Dinner was done and he had checked the house and yard multiple times already. He was debating getting up again and checking his security footage when Relena came into the kitchen.

"Sorry," she said as she moved to sit at the breakfast bar. "I didn't mean for that to take as long as it did. Dinner looks amazing. Thank you, Heero," a warm smile on her face as she looked at him.

"What was the conference call about?" Heero asked.

"It was just Klein. He wanted to go over a few of the bills that will be presented next week," Relena said before she took a bite of her food. Heero nodded his head, taking a bite of his food. He made a teriyaki-style chicken with rice and steamed vegetables.

"So are you going to tell me why you have that look on your face?"

"Huh?" Heero stared blankly at Relena as she took another bite of her food.

"When you came to get me earlier you looked like you were about to blow up something or someone," Relena put down her fork as she turned on the barstool to fully face him. "You have the same look now. So are you going to tell me what happened today?"

"I'm just concerned about your safety," Heero frowned when he saw her roll her eyes.

"I know you do and I appreciated the fact you care so much, but that's not the whole truth. So tell me what happened?" Relena pressed her lips into a fine line. Heero sighed. Why did he even bother trying to lie or hide some things from Relena? She always seemed to pick up on everything and would eventually come to her own conclusions.

"We interrogated Serena."

"You what!?" Her voice rose.

"Wufei found Watson dead in this cell this morning. He and Duo had interrogated him but were unable to obtain any information." Relena gasped when he paused. "Une and I agreed that we should have Serena... go on the record about everything. Or at least try to."

"So you interrogated her!? She's not some terrorist! She's working with Preventer!" Relena yelled at him. Heero sighed to himself again. This is why he didn't want to tell Relena any of this.

"She could still be an enemy of Preventer and ESUN. Who's to truly say she isn't?"

"Heero, you and I both know she isn't. If she was she would've completed whatever mission she was sent on by now. She would have done something. She's like you, and you know that. Her mission was never to engage with us. I believe her and I trust in her to do the right thing. She knows what we're up against and she wants to help."

Heero frowned as he looked away from Relena. It seemed almost as if Relena knew more than she was letting on. Which meant that Serena had said something to her. But that only brought on more questions about what they spoke about. Relena didn't allow him to go into the room with her when she had visited Serena.

"So… how did it go?" Relena's voice broke through his thoughts as he snapped his head back to face her. "At this point, you should just tell me. Or I'm going to find out for myself," Relena smiled at him. That all-knowing smile. Heero cursed under his breath. Relena was right. She'd likely go ask Duo for the information.

"She revealed a good amount of information. Still not enough. But Une thinks it's enough for us to start taking some kind of action," Heero turned his eyes away from her. He didn't want to mention the fact that she had revealed to them that not just Mobile Suits were being built. But a Gundam as well. "That and Une agreed to let Serena stay with Barton."

"Serena is staying with Trowa?"

"Yeah. She should've stayed at my apartment. Where I could watch her better," Heero said bitterly as he took a bite of his food.

"Which would likely result in the two of you going after each other. One of you would either end up hurt or dead," Relena pressed her lips together again. "And how could you watch over her and be with me? Regardless, I think it's a good idea. She seems to respond better to Trowa anyway, and if she's going to work alongside you guys. You," Relena said, pointing a finger at him. "Need to get over things and work with her. If you give her a chance you may be surprised." Heero was going to say something when Relena held up her hand. "Don't. Let's just enjoy the rest of our evening all right? I don't want to argue about this and I appreciate you telling me."

If Heero was to be completely honest with Relena, he wasn't happy about any of this. He was downright pissed at this point. He kept his face as masked as he could. For once Relena seemed satisfied with his answers and he didn't want to talk about the topic anymore either. The whole day had once again gone to shit. He was still upset with Serena, and then there was Trowa who went and topped things off by telling Une that Serena could stay with him.

Serena had spent the night lying in the bed that was to be hers for her duration of stay with Trowa. While it was slightly awkward being in someone else's home. She quickly pushed the thoughts aside and tried to remain herself. It wasn't that she was ungrateful for the fact that Trowa had offered to have her stay with him. It just meant keeping up with an appearance.

An appearance that she wasn't sure she'd be able to uphold.

Trowa had helped her to lay down fresh sheets and had shown her around the apartment. Though most of it was a large living space with his bedroom off the kitchen and the guest room and bathroom on the opposite side. Along with the linen closet that housed a washer and dryer. Overall it wasn't a bad place. Though she didn't understand at first why he had gotten a two-bedroom apartment in the first place.

She had questioned him about it when they sat down to eat. Trowa had apologized for the lack of food and had ordered a pizza for them. She learned that he had gotten the two-bedroom apartment mainly for when Catherine came to visit. He had asked her if she knew who Catherine was. Serena had bit her lips but she responded with an honest answer.

"Yes."

Trowa had finally asked her how she knew so much about them. She had turned away from him. Unsure of how to answer the question. He didn't press her further on it and she had been grateful he had been willing to drop the subject.

How could she fully explain that she had seen everything they had ever seen? To know how they felt at one point or another? Trowa wasn't the hardest to learn. His memories of his childhood were vague at best. His adolescence was easier to learn and memorize. Even when he was piloting Heavyarms. She had learned more about him during the wars than she had prior. Even when he lost his memory. He was able to gain it back because of the ZERO system.

Which was truly why she knew so much. The system had stored away a file with each person who came into contact with it. Even Zechs had a file. Somehow J collected the data and kept it, for whatever reason. She had spent a great deal of time learning everything she could about the pilots.

Especially a select few. It gave her an advantage when it came to dealing with them. If she ever had to encounter them. Which was proving to be useful to her now.

The night hadn't been as bad as she originally thought it would be. They had engaged in conversation till they went their separate ways for the rest of the evening. Trowa had gone to take a shower before going to bed. She had debated doing the same, but instead, she went into her room. She knew she needed time alone to contemplate everything, along with how she planned to move forward.

As she lay in her bed, her mind began to analyze the events that had happened so far. She thought she was in control of the whole situation and herself, but maybe she was wrong?

Serena had broken down her walls once to express herself to Heero. At the time she thought that possibly he'd understand more since their training had been so similar. Trowa on the other hand... she knew somewhere in her mind that he would understand. Possibly be sympathetic towards her but that wasn't what she wanted. And then there was another issue.

Showing him who she truly was.

The thought alone terrified her. Could she show Trowa or anyone else for that matter who she truly was? Would any of them truly understand? She had kept her true self locked away for so long. And deep down, she knew she was still the monster of someone else's creation. A monster that was just waiting to be released, whether she wanted it to or not.

Trowa had been kind, never raising his voice. The only time he shouted was the morning she learned J had set them up. Correction; set her up. Other than that, he always spoke softly to her. Keeping his tone light as they communicated. Even when he laughed. She was finding herself enjoying his company more and more with each passing day.

They had only known each other for a little over two weeks, but his personality and demeanor were easy for her to get along with. They were similar in some ways and it was almost comforting for her. She knew more about him than he did her. But that was something that would possibly have to change. They were now living together for the foreseeable future. It was likely only a matter of time before he learned more about her.

Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing.

For the first time in a long time, she was starting to feel more like herself. But there was a part of her that wasn't certain she was the same person she had been back in A.C. 198. So much had changed in such a short amount of time. Somehow she had been able to hold onto a few small fragments of herself. Serena knew she'd never be the same again. Maybe it was for the best. She was faster, stronger, and smarter now. She knew how to work situations to her advantage. Not everything that had happened to her had been so bad. But then again, she didn't know any other way of life.

Serena had spent the rest of the night questioning her actions and trying to determine the outcome of her decisions. Every step, every move she made from here on out would have significant consequences. Was she willing to sacrifice everything to hold onto peace? Or was she willing to sacrifice the rest of the world for the sake of a mission... a mission she wasn't even sure about anymore.

Serena was sitting at the breakfast bar after Trowa had left for work. She had given up looking through the personnel files of some of the Preventer agents that Une had given her for her first assignment. She was instructed to go through everyone's files and look for anyone who was associated with ROE. Along with a second assignment that was to remain classified for the time being.

She had told Une that it would take her some time to do both. Especially the second assignment. Depending on how fast she got through all the files. They agreed to start with the files first, and so far she had found two. One was located on L2 while the other was located at the Paris branch office. They hadn't made any move to arrest them just yet. Une wanted to wait till they had everyone possible identified to hopefully not arouse any suspicion.

Serena sat singing softly to herself as she added more items to her shopping cart. It wasn't something she had done in a long time and she found it slightly odd she was allowing herself to do so. Shaking the thoughts aside she continued to sing while looking for a particular item. One she felt she needed to find.

She knew Heero was monitoring what she was doing on his laptop remotely. It didn't take a genius to figure out why he wanted her to use his in the first place. She was hoping to get some rise out of him when he checked to see what she had been doing. It wasn't like she wasn't working. But she did need clothes, it had already been three days since she had started staying with Trowa, and while Relena had offered for her to keep the clothes she had given her, Serena wanted her own, ones that fit her style.

Her shopping was cut short when an incoming video call came through. On Trowa's laptop.

So my message got through. She thought to herself as she moved his laptop in front of her. Accepting the call she was greeted by a face that she knew all too well.

"Hello, Delta," the man smiled widely at her. "It's been a while since we've last spoken."

A/N

Happy Wednesday, afternoon!

I know I normally post in the mornings, but today was a little different. I asked a friend to jump on to my Google Doc and help me edit this chapter because I was unhappy with certain areas. Thankfully, my friend puts up with me and I dragged them onto my doc for a few hours. I am very grateful and I can't thank them enough. (Ily if you ever look at this. Thank you again!) Sometimes it helps to have a second set of eyes and ideas to help you figure out a problem.

As much as I want to ramble, I do want to get this chapter posted. But I do have one question. Who do you think Serena's speaking to at the end here?

Have a great rest of your day and I will see you guys on Friday!

-MM